BMC counsel not happy with Mumbai roads

Its not just the citizens who are unhappy about the roads in Mumbai, even the counsel for Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is not happy with the way the city roads are maintained.

The disclosure was made by K Singhvi, counsel for BMC on Wednesday when Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar asked him, “Are you happy with the roads in Mumbai?” to which the he conceded that he was not.

The Bombay High Court was hearing a public interest litigations (PIL) filed by Doctor Sandip Rane and activist Kewal Semlani seeking better road conditions for the city. The Roads Monitoring Committee had submitted a quarterly report to the BMC for repairs and maintenance of various roads.

The committee, headed by former commissioner of police Ronnie Mendonca, was appointed by the HC in August 2006 to monitor the roads condition in the city and neighbouring Thane direct and also complaint if the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has left an unfilled pothole. They were asked to file quarterly reports.

A division bench of Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice SC Dharmadhikari directed the BMC and other bodies looking after roads in the city to file an affidavit in two weeks on the quarterly report submitted by Road Monitoring Committee.

Chief Justice Kumar reminded the BMC that it collected property tax and other municipal taxes from citizens for which they were obliged to provide them (citizens) with good, motorable roads.

“You collect a fee for driving license, so you must see to it that roads are worth driving on... these things are correlated. One cant even take a driving test on these type of roads," remarked Chief Justice Kumar.

The High Court, last August, had ordered the BMC, Mumbai Port Trust, Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation and Thane Municipal Corporation to fill up the potholes on roads within fifteen days.

The court has also directed the BMC to state how much it has spent on repair and maintenance of roads in the city in last two years.

The RMC had also created an email id through which people can reach them –